The three major US stock indexes opened higher this morning, following on a positive debt sale by Portugal and some improvement in PMI numbers from Europe. ADP employment data did not meet…
Oil refiner Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: MPC) posted a quarterly EPS loss of -$0.21 this morning, way below the consensus estimate of EPS loss of -$0.06. Revenues rose to $19.44 billion, beating…
The United Steelworkers Union has reached a tentative agreement with US refiners that will avoid a strike that could have begun at 12:01 a.m. this morning. Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE: RDS-A)…
The United Steel Workers union could authorize a strike against US refineries that produce about one-third of the country’s daily refined products demand of 19 million barrels. The strike deadline is midnight…
One of the largest crude oil refiners in the US, Tesoro Corp. (NYSE: TSO), this morning lowered its earnings guidance for the fourth quarter, projecting a loss of -$0.55 to -$0.80. The…
The announcement from Enbridge Inc. (NYSE: ENB) that it would acquire the 50% stake in the Seaway pipeline system owned by ConocoPhillips Corp. (NYSE: COP) and reverse the pipeline’s flow direction, pushed…
The markets opened lower this morning and not until mid-afternoon were equities able to put a mark above yesterday’s close. European stocks traded mixed all day, and that coupled with rising crude…
Two major oil refiners have reported third-quarter earnings since the market closed last night. Both posted better-than-expected earnings primarily due to sharply higher refining margins. Western Refining Corp. (NYSE: WNR) reported net…
In the week ended September 16th, the US exported more refined products than it imported. Year-over-year, the US is now exporting 714,000 barrels/day more refined products than it is importing. The largest…
The refining business has been in the news a lot recently for two things. One, it’s making money again. Two, integrated oil companies are shedding refining assets at a rapid pace. Now’s…
Beginning in the early 1990s, integrated oil companies and some independents began stripping away their midstream assets like interstate pipeline and gathering systems to focus more on the money-making parts of the…
So far this year we’ve noted a couple of major spin-offs in the energy section. Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO) spun out its downstream business into Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: MPC) and…
This past weekend’s startling developments in Libya hit the crude oil markets almost instantly. Brent crude in Europe fell to around $105/barrel at one point, while WTI crude has gained about half…
As the markets swoon today from Friday night’s downgrade of US debt, Standard & Poor’s is making other changes to its debt ratings. One sector that is unchanged is oil and gas,…
The price for WTI crude oil fell below $83/barrel momentarily today as the market takes another shellacking, down around 200 points just before noon. Both crude and the wider market are making…
